5 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite (January 24 - Results & Review)

Adam Copeland proves his worth on an otherwise incredibly lightweight show.

by Michael Sidgwick
Toni Storm
AEW

This week's edition of Dynamite had the air of novelty to it going in.

WWE, meanwhile, promoted one of the best big-time promo exchanges in years - the shift in mood in that Cody Rhodes Vs. CM Punk segment was as believable as pro wrestling tension gets - ahead of the the most successful Royal Rumble ever at the box office. This preceded by mere hours the bombshell announcement that WWE is heading to Netflix, for billions and billions of dollars, in a move that could mainstream itself yet further.

And, while it's probably unfair to compare the two promotions at this particular stage, in that AEW is not mere days away from its second-most canonically important show of the year, just how absolutely massive WWE feels right now just threw into sharper relief how lightweight AEW feels. Adam Copeland Vs, Minoru Suzuki was very much a wacky Dynamite special, the sort of match graphic you are supposed to interpret as charmingly whimsical - this guy is wrestling that guy?! - but this sort of novelty does cast AEW as somewhat trivial.

A Jeff Hardy Vs. Swerve Strickland match didn't seem likely to launch the latter into the stratosphere. The best version of Hangman Page Vs. Penta El Zero Miedo promised some awesome, unhinged wrestling violence, but it was a bit of a 2019 match, no?

Was all of this copy too cynical...?

Advertisement
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!